Apparatus for converting commercial frequency circuits into high frequency circuits



1,838,931 IAL FREQUENCY NGY CIRCUITS 3.

Dec. 29, 1931. H. F. FISHER APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING COMMERC CIRCUITS INTO HIGH FREQUE Original Filed Sept.

A 7 TORNZ'Y' vided between these electrodes.

Patented Dec. 29, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT- OFFICE HABMON I. FISHER, LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA, ASSIGNOR T0 PETROLEUM RECTIFY- ING COMPANY OF CALIFORNIA, OF LOS AN GELES, CALIFORNIA, A CORPORATION OF CALIFORNIA APPARATUS FOR CONVERTING COMMERCIAL FREQUENCY CIRCUITS INTO HIGH FREQUENCY CIRCUITS Application med September 3,' 1927, Serial No. 217,498. Renewed flctober 10, 1931.

My invention relates to dehydrators for separating water from petroleum emulsions.

Petroleum often becomes associated with water and is converted into an emulsion. Before the petroleum is of any commercial value it must have the water content thereof reduced to two per cent or less. Dehydration is commonly accomplished by passing the emulsion through an electric dehydrator.

Such a dehydrator consists of a shell or tank in which a grounded and a live electrode are supported, there being a treating space pro- Means is provided whereby an electric field may beset up in the treating space. The oil in passing through the treating space is subjected to the action of the electric field and the water particles are coalesced so that they will precipitate from the oil. Tests have indicated that emulsion which is ordinarily hard to treat may be efliciently deh drated by subjectin it to an electric field produced by a high requency current.

It is accordingly one of the objects of this invention to provide a method in which emulsion is subjected to an electric field produced by a high frequency potential.

Another object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for conducting this method.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an apparatus for converting com- .mercial frequency current into high frequency current.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be made evident hereinafter.

Referring to the drawings in which I illustrate the invention:

Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic view illustrating the apparatus of the invention in totality.

Fig. 2 is a diagram showing the commercial frequency and the frequency when it has been converted into a high frequency current.

Referring to the drawings, 11 is a dehydrator having a shell 12, a grounded or primary electrode 13, and a secondary or live electrode 14:, there being a treating space 15 provided between these electrodes.

The dehydrator .11 is only one of many forms of dehydrators which may be used, and it should be understood that I do not wish to limit myself by the dehydrator shown. The numeral 17 in the upper left-hand corner of Fig.1 represents a transformer having a primary winding 18 and a secondary winding 19. The transformer 17 is a common type of step-up transformer and the primary winding thereof is fed by a commercial frequency current. Connected to the secondary winding 19 is a primary feed line or'primary conductor 20 and connected to the opposite part thereof is a secondary feed line or secondary conductor 21. Connected across the terminals of the secondary winding 19 is a condenser 22.

My invention provides a converter which has a primary mechanism and a secondary mechanism 26. The primary mechanism 25 has a primary contact member 27 and a sec ondary contact member 28. These primary and secondary contact members are annular and are juxtaposed. The primary contact member 27 has primary fingers 29 which proje'ct toward the secondary contact member 28, and the secondary contact member 28 has secondary fingers which projecttoward the primary contact member 27. Theipri mary and secondary fingers 29 and 30 are oifset and overlap as shown. The primary and secondary contact members are supported by insulators 32 as shown. The primary contact member 27 is connected by a conductor 33 to the primary or grounded electrode 13, this connection being made through the shell 12. The secondary contact member 28 is connected by means of a conductor 34 to the secondary or live electrode 14;. Extended concentrically through the primary and secondary contact members 27 and 28 is a shaft 36 which carries a contact maker 37. The contact maker 37 is adapted to engage the primary and secondary fingers 29 and 30 alternately as the shaft 36 is rotated. The shaft'36 is electrically connected to the primary feed line 20 by means of a sliding contact 38 and a contact ring 39.

The secondary mechanism is of the same construction as the rimary mechanism and may be described as ollows: It has a primary contact member 40 and 'a secondary contact member 41. The primary and secondary contact members have primary and secondary fingers 42 and 43 which are offset and which overlap as illustrated. The contact members 40 and 41 are annular as in the case of the primary mechanism 25. They are supported by insulators 45. The primary contact member 40 of the secondary mechanism 26 is connected to the primary or grounded electrode 13 by means of'a conductor 46 which is connected to the conductor 33. The secondary contact member 41 is connected to the secondary electrode 14 by a conductor 47 which 18 connected to the conductor 34. Extending concentrically through the primary and secondary contact members of the secondary mechanism 26 is a shaft 49 carrying a contact maker 50, this contact maker 50 being adapted to alternately contact the primary and secondary fingers 42 and 43 when the shaft 49 is rotated. The shaft 49 is in electrical connection with the secondary feed line 21 by means of a sliding contact 51 and a contact ring 52.

The shafts 36 and 49 are preferabl in alignment and connected together sue as by an insulation portion 53 so that they may by synchronously operated. It should be understood that it is not absolutely necessary that this alignment be made, since the shafts may be connected together by belting or gearing. The shafts 36 and 49 are so connected together that when the contact maker 37 engages a primary finger 29 the contact maker '50 engages a secondary finger 43 and vice versa.

The operation of the apparatus is substantially as follows:

The transformer is energized so that a high potential induced current is set up in the secondary winding 19. The wave form of this current is shown by a sine wave 60 in Fig. 2. The shafts 36 and 49 are driven by a suitable means, not shown, and the contact makers 37 and 50 alternately engage primary and secondary fingers of their respective mechanisms. When the contact makers 37 and 50 are in the position shown by full lines in Fi 1, the primary feed line 20 is connecte to the primary electrode 13. This is because of the fact that the contact maker 38 of the primary mechanism 25 is in mechanical contactwith one of the fingers 29 of the primary contact member 27. The secondary feed line 21 is at this time connected to the secondary electrode 14. This is because of the fact that the contact maker 50 is in contact with one of the fingers 43 of the secondary contactmember 41. A primary circuit is thus completed. As the shafts 36 and 49 rotate, the contact 37 is moved into engagement with a finger 30 of the secondary contact member 28, and the contact maker 50 is moved into engagement with a finger 42 of the primary contact member 40. At this time the primary feed line 20 is connected to the secondary electrode 14, and the secondary feed line 21 is connected to the primary electrode 13, thus completing a secondary.

shown by dotted lines 61 shows the potential which is produced by the operation of the converting apparatus. It will be seen that in this figure the commercial frequency is increased fourteen fold. The high points of the peaks of each wave of the high frequency potential vary according to its position with respect to the commercial frequency, being limited by the wave form, the cyclic variation in intensity being in synchronism with the cyclic variations of the commercial alternating frequency indicated by the wave form 60.

Insofar as very little current passes through the dielectric material, little sparking trouble is ex erienced at the instant one of the contact ma ers leaves one of the fingers of the primary or secondary members. .The condenser 22 across the secondary 19 of the transformer 17 tends to absorb any sur es and further eliminates any sparking tween the contact makers and the fingers. The condenser further offers an easy path to the high frequency currents in comparison to the high inductance secondary winding across which it is placed.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that I have presented a dehydrating apparatus in which the emulsion is subjected to the action of a high frequency electric field which, as I have stated before, is found to be very effective in treating emulsions. The apparatus shown for converting the commercial frequency into a high frequency is very well suited for its purpose in this invention, as well as in numerous other industrial installations.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination: a source of alternating current electricity; a primary electrode; a secondary electrode, there belng a treating space between said electrodes; a primary con: ductor connected with said source a primary mechanism for alternately connecting said primary conductor with said primary electrode and then with said secondar electrode; a secondary conductor connecte with said source; and secondary mechanism for alter nately connecting said secondary conductor with said secondary electrode and then with said primary electrode.

2. In combination: a source of alternating current electricity; a primary electrode; a secondary electrode, there being a treating space between said electrodes; a primary conductor connected with said source; a secondary conductor connected with said source; a primary mechanism having a primary contact member connected to said primary electrode, a secondary contact member connected to said secondary electrode, and a contact maker connected to said primary conductor and adapted to alternately contact said prielectrode and said secondary conductor is connected to said primary electrode; and means for alternately completing said primary and secondary circuits at a rate eater than the frequency of said source 0 alternating current.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Los Angeles, California, this 26th day of August, 1927.

HARMON F. FISHER.

mary and secondary contact members; a sec- 'ondary mechanism having a primary contact member connected to said primary electrode, a secondary contact member connected to said secondary electrode, and a contact maker connected to said secondary conductor and adapted to alternately contact said primary and secondary contacts of said secondary mechanism; and means for operating said contact makers so that said contact maker of said primary mechanism is contacting the primary contact member thereof when said contact maker of said secondary mechanism is contacting said secondary contact member of said secondary mechanism.

3. A method of treating an emulsion which comprises: generating an alternating potential of primary wave form; breaking said primary potential up into high frequency pulsations of secondary Wave form having peaks corresponding in magnitude to the wave form of saidalternating potential; impressing said high frequency pulsations on a pair of electrodes; and passing said emulsion through the field set up between said electrodes.

4. A method of treating an emulsion which comprises: setting up a high frequency field, the potential across which successively increases with each high frequency oscillation and subsequently decreases in like manner; and subjecting said emulsion to the action of 5. A method of treating an emulsion which comprises: setting up an alternating field, the potential across which successively increases with each oscillation, and subsequently decreases successively with each oscillation; and subjecting said emulsion to the action of said field. I

6. In combination with a source of alternating current: primary and secondary electrodes defining a treating space; a primary conductor connected to one terminal of said source of alternating current; a secondary conductor connected to the other terminal of said source of alternating current, a primary circuit being completed when said primary conductor is connected to said primary electrode and said secondary conductor is connected to said secondary electrode, a secondary circuit being completed when said primary conductor is connected to said secondary 

